The invention of the present application relates to apparatus for holding paper bags and opening such bags when required. It is of particular interest in connection with checkout counters in supermarkets.
In checking out customers in supermarkets, the purchased items are usually removed from a cart to a counter or moving belt and after the prices of the items have been rung up on a cash register, are placed in a large paper bag or bags. This bagging may be done by the cashier or by a separate person, a "bagger". In most supermarkets, the folded paper bags are merely piled in a stack. Hence, they may shift position or fall from the stack and thereby make it more difficult and time consuming to grasp and open the bag properly, position it, and start to place purchased items therein. A number of attempts have been made to make it easier and quicker to grasp and open a bag for loading. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,777,439; 3,564,814; and 3,782,073.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved apparatus that holds stacked paper bags in such manner that they open as they are removed from the apparatus. Thus, time is saved at the checkout counter and the store operation is more efficient.